


dear heart

by pvwork



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Cake, Family, Foiled Confessions, Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-12
Updated: 2014-12-12
Packaged: 2018-03-01 04:00:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2758793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pvwork/pseuds/pvwork
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>i. junior prom<br/>ii. leaving for college<br/>iii. returning from college</p>
            </blockquote>





	dear heart

i. 

Barry shoots up in the winter, growing pains keeping him up late into the night, but at least he's five chapters ahead in every class. 

Iris bribes him into teaching her all his tips and tricks by lending him her hot water bottles to help stave off the muscles aches at night (even though she knows he would help her without her prompting, even though she knows he knows she would bring him as many hot water bottles as he needed any night of the week) 

Spring rolls around and junior prom is coming and that's when Iris realizes that Barry is _tall_. Tall enough for her to wear heels and still be able to lean her head on his shoulder if they were to slow dance together. 

"You sure you don't want to come? My ride doesn't get here until eight. You could just throw something on and I could whip up a guest pass for you and we'd be golden." 

"No," Iris says with a laugh as she tries to shoo Barry out onto the porch to wait for his friends. She's tempted, but. "I'd be too nervous about calc to be any fun tonight. You go and have fun with your adorable nerd friends."

"Two minutes is all I need! Vice Principal Johannason has a very boring signature. Iris, I--," Barry smiles sheepishly and ducks his head. When he finally looks up again, Iris reaches out to smooth out some wrinkles in his rented tux. "I--"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine on my own," Iris says. 

It's not every day that Barry gets to go to prom. Iris doesn't mind sharing him, because she knows at the end of the night, he'll come home bubbling with stories to share with her. 

"You go out and have fun," Iris says, "And take care of the suit! You look good in it." 

Barry blushes fetchingly.

ii. 

Barry looks like a movie starlet, tears clinging to the ends of his long, long lashes, his cheeks flushed, but his complexion somehow blotch free. Barry's just so pretty sometimes that Iris doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. 

Today, she does both, reaching up to wrap both her arms around Barry's shoulders. Since when did they get so broad? He's still slim, but he's grown and she presses her tears into his shirt like that'll leave a permanent imprint for him to see later. 

"Sorry, I got snot all over your shirt," Iris says, not really sorry at all. "What are you going to do without me in college, Bar? Who's going to make you coffee in the morning without burning the coffee maker."

Barry starts to laugh. He sniffs and rubs at his eyes and licks his lips and says, "One time!" as indignantly as he can.

"One time too many!"

"Hey, I--" 

"Yeah?" Iris asks.

"I--I'm going to miss you. I'm going to miss you so much, Iris."

iii.

Dad's got his Dad Face on. The one where he's trying really hard to be mature and responsible when really all he wants to day is eat a funfetti cake and chill on the couch with Iris watching their soaps together. 

At least, that's what Iris would do if she was feeling the opposite of mature and responsible. 

"Is everything ready?" 

"Dad, the surprise party is going to go off without a hitch."

"The ice cream cake?"

"In the fridge."

"Party hats?" 

"There's only one and it's for our special guest, a recent college grad holding degrees in both chemistry and physics."

Dad mmm's and aaah's for a moment before he walks into the living room and adjusts a single streamer. 

A single streamer. 

"Dad, Bar's gonna love this," Iris says. She's doing her best to be soothing and confident even though she's a little nervous herself. "Don't worry." Chances are good this is all going to go off without a hitch but nothing is perfect and chance is a fickle mistress. 

"Maybe I should have gone and picked him up."

"Bar's a great driver," Iris points out diplomatically. 

At that exact moment, the deadbolt clicks and the door swings open to reveal long-awaited Barry. 

At the same time, Iris' hand slips and the party popper pops like it's supposed to, but also flies out of her hand and crashes into the bottle of soda they'd set out on the table. The soda falls over and crashes into a bowl of chips, causing an avalanche of chips to spill on the ground

The bowl, now empty of chips, flies into the air, spinning as fast as any frisbee thrown by a member of a collegiate ultimate frisbee team. The cap of the bottle of soda also manages to pop off, spilling a wave of lukewarm Coke across the floor. 

The bowl tears down a "Welcome Home!" banner that the West's had hung up.

"Hi," Barry breathes, his suitcase in one hand, his backpack slung over one shoulder, cheeks pink from the wind and hair gelled back in a flattering swoop, framed by the fluttering edges of a falling banner. 

"Welcome home!" Iris says and makes jazz hands at the mess as if to show case the state of their home sweet home.

"There's ice cream cake in the fridge," Dad says. "Cookies and cream." Iris always knew her dad was excellent at damage control.

Later, Barry will laugh and say, "My favorite" around a mouthful of ice cream cake.

Iris will laugh and nudge him with an elbow. They'll all be crowded on the couch playing hot lava with the floor still sticky with spilled Coke. No one's had the heart to clean up now that Barry's home and they can all finally watch their soaps as a found family unit. 

Dad will get up to get more cake, tip toeing over the tops of islands of paper towels to get to the kitchen.

"Hey," Barry will say. Iris will smile and look into Barry's brown eyes and find herself thinking, This is good. 

"So I've always--," Barry will stop and look down at his cake. 

Iris will wait and as she does, Dad will come back with three mugs full of chips. 

"I've always wondered where you get this cake from. It's _delicious_."

**Author's Note:**

> physics is too real.


End file.
